1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a method and a device to input one or more commands in a controller of a manipulator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As used herein, a manipulator encompasses single-axis or multi-axis robots, measurement and tool machines, for example non-driven coordinate measurement machines. Such manipulators generally have a controller to execute specific movements, for example to traverse predetermined trajectories, to store specific measurement positions or the like. Therefore a regulator—for example a force or position regulator of a robot—is also designated herein as a controller.
To operate the manipulator it is necessary to enter one or more commands as an input into such a controller. For example, commands to occupy specific positions, to travel predetermined trajectories, to activate tools (for instance to open or close a gripper or to activate an electrode holder, a drilling head or cutting head or the like) are input in a robot controller. Commands to begin a feed, to change a rotation speed of a work piece or tool or the like are input into a tool machine in a corresponding manner; commands to start or end a data recording are correspondingly input into a measurement machine. Such commands can act directly at the manipulator via the controller or be stored in the form of a program in order to be subsequently converted by the controller into a desired action of the manipulator.
To enter commands that determine a work process of a robot—for example occupying an initial position, the activation of a cutting tool, the traversing of a predetermined trajectory to process a work piece with the cutting tool, the deactivation of the cutting tool and the return into a neutral position—it is known (for example from EP 0 850 730 B1) to manually move the robots into the desired initial position and to subsequently move along the trajectory to be traversed or to move to points on this trajectory. In order to enter commands (for example the storage of the current position as a desired position, the activation of a tool or the movement into a neutral position), in this method known as direct programming (“direct teaching”), an additional keyboard or the like has conventionally been required via which the operator manually directing the robot enters the corresponding commands. This not only requires additional equipment and increased transfer cost between the input apparatus and the controller but also hinders the operator in the direct programming since the operator must move or release the robot one-handed to operate the keyboard.